All charges brought against Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille for her participation in protest marches have been dropped, the Western Cape director of public prosecutions said on Tuesday.
Zille, who is also mayor of Cape Town, was charged in terms of the Regulation of Gatherings Act following her participation in a protest march on Parliament in July this year and one against an alleged drug dealer on the Cape Flats in September.
The director of public prosecutions, Rodney de Kock, said he had declined to prosecute in all the cases because there were no reasonable prospects of successful prosecutions.
However, De Kock said the conditions for the holding of marches or demonstrations have to be adhered to in the future, especially when there is any threat to property and the safety of the public.
He said he will not hesitate to prosecute vigorously those who do not comply with the regulations governing participation in marches.
Zille said in response to the decision that she had always believed the charges against her were ”trumped up and sinister”. She said she is considering legal action against the authorities.
She was arrested on charges of contravening the Regulation of Gatherings Act while taking part in a protest outside the home of an alleged drug dealer on the Cape Flats on September 9 this year.
Zille said the withdrawal of the charges confirmed her belief that, from the outset, there was no reason either to arrest or charge her. ”These were always trumped-up charges and I do not believe that they were the result of ineptitude by the SAPS [South African Police Service], but rather of something more sinister,” she said.
”To arrest people when they have not contravened any law or regulation demonstrates once again the growing tendency by the authorities to undermine the Constitution and treat people’s rights as if they were arbitrary favours granted by the police and the ruling party,” Zille said.
She expressed concern at the arrest of people who are in the process of revealing wrongdoing by certain individuals. ”If left unchecked, such a trend poses a serious threat to fundamental democratic freedoms,” she said.
Zille said she will be consulting her lawyers about the possibility of taking further action against the SAPS in the Western Cape. — Sapa